Wow! I knew I’d be busy this month. I think I’ve underestimated how busy. The last week has just flown by and here we are already almost half way through August. Well, now it’s time for a little look back at last month to see how I fared at working towards my goals.
Blogging
- Write a series of posts to schedule if I am away. This last week has emphasised the importance of this goal. Something had to give, and unfortunately it was here. Without any material prepared, I have posted nothing for a week!
- Grow the Journeyer’s Chronicles community. Slowly, but surely we are growing. I am learning some techniques this month in the 30 Day Challenge that I may be able to implement here to keep things moving along.
- Learn to tweak my blog code. I am slowly becoming familiar with some of the gobbledy gook that appears behind the scenes here. When I have a few minutes to spare, I spend some time figuring things out little by little.
August Goals
- Write two posts to schedule if I am away.
- Continue to grow the Journeyer’s Chronicles community.
- Complete the 30 Day Challenge.
Family
- Do something fun with the kids each week, that doesn’t involve after school activities. We have become real homebodies, especially on the weekends, over the last month. The weather has been so cold, everyone is happy to stay indoors. However, we have had quite a few projects on around the house that the kids have been more than happy to be involved in.
- Establish teamwork in regard to household chores. The kitchen is under control. The kids generally all do their bit to help get things done.
August Goals
- Do something fun with the kids during the week, that doesn’t involve after school activities.
- Establish teamwork in regard to household tasks – keeping upstairs tidy.
Finances
- Monitor our grocery spending. Our grocery spending seems to have evened out at around $175/week. It’s a little more than I planned on, but it’s where things are working now.
- Pay down our credit card balances. Right on target with this goal. The credit card gets paid along with the other bills, rather than getting the left overs as was our previous habit.
- Stick to our budget. Although we haven’t had any spending sprees, I’ve been a bit slack in monitoring our budget. As a result we don’t really know where we are at any given point.
August goals
- Continue as for July.
- Monitor our budget so we have a clear picture of where we are standing.
Health
- Walk where possible. It is soooo cold at the moment. We are doing some walking, but not nearly as much as I’d like. I think I just need to bite the bullet, rug up and get out there. Brrrrr.
- Use the exercise bike for 15 minutes every day. The bike is out of storage and sitting in front of a window where I have a nice view while I’m peddling away. I’ve even been on it a couple of times.
- Set aside some quiet ME time each day. This has been a bit hit and miss. I am finding the best time is after the kids have gone to bed, but by them I’m too tired to do anything much. Some more thought required I think.
- My Happy Pages. I have neglected My Happy Pages somewhat this month. It’s not that I’ve had nothing happy to write about, but that I’ve been busy doing other things.
August goals
- Use the exercise bike twice each week.
- Set aside some quiet ME time each day.
- Write regularly in My Happy Pages.
Productivity
- Continue with Getting Things Done. I’ve been doing well with this goal. You can read my monthly GTD review here.
- Organise a housework schedule and stick to it. Nope…didn’t get done.
- Listen to/read two books. I am part way through one book. This fits in with my me time goal above. I tend to get a couple of pages read and then nod off to sleep.
August goals
- Organise an housework schedule and stick to it.
- Listen to/read two books.
- Continue trialling Todoodlist.
Simple Living
- Complete the vegie garden. We have our first vegie plot. I’ve even started a blog about it (of course) – The Vegie Files. Things are going well, except for the tomatoes. I think it might be a little early for them.
- Make some yoghurt. We haven’t really needed yoghurt lately. It’s something I would like to get working well before the warmer weather comes along though.
- Make some bread. I bought the yeast. Does that count as part done?
August goals
- Keep the vegie garden coming along.
- Have another go at making yoghurt.
- Make some bread.
All in all, not a very good result. I think part of my problem was I didn’t have my goals visible all the time. This month, I’m going to print out a copy and see if that helps me be more mindful of what it is I want to achieve.
Photos: Tree and mist, Family Portrait, Suddenly things seem crystal clear to me
You have created the most ideal plan for dealing with life head on with good ammo.
I am my husband do that on Sunday but by Wednesday every thing falls apart. I think what we need is better resolve.
Yoghurt making is relatively simple. I had a Chinese neighbor who passed on a simple trick to me. Keep lukewarm milk in an earthen pot over night and voila!! You will get the thickest yoghurt in the morning. The magicians called the Lactobacilli keep working relentlessly in our guts to take care of our yeast infections as well.
Another master food/ointment is the pulp of Aloe vera. If my young ones get hurt, I simply apply the pulp of the leaves and the wound is recuperated with in days. No antibiotics or medicated creams. You must be having a beautiful vegge garden and can give some space for the thorny plant which is a panacea for many things.
I have two kids and my husband is a bit harsh on them for discipline around the house. Any ideas on how to tame this bully?
But yes, he takes care, the boys get the best in life. Recently he and the boys attended a
Mad Science at the school library and I joined them later. The Mad Scientist had all those things, uptight adults won’t like but the kids would love to mess around with. They blew balloons with warm air and made them fly. They had the gooey green stuff which turn solid for a moment and pastey the other. All these displays were focused on science and the kids were eager to try those things at home. They now have found a new indulgence called.. Science.
By the way stick the goals as a wall paper on you screen. Use all you know about Paint to avoid a boring look on your desk top screen.
I missed a point. We need to add a little bit of left over youghurt to the milk in the earthen pot.;)
WOW, that was quite a set of goals!
My only goal for this last month was to list my goals and I couldn’t even do it (chuckle). But, kiddding aside, I am learning something from this post of yours. Thank you for sharing.
Your post reminded me how I haven’t written down my plans for quite sometime now.
I believe writing them down helps a lot as it keeps you on track.
I look forward in reading more about your 30 days challenge experience.
Janette Torals last blog post..Get a free copy: Blogging from Home
it is a great idea to print out your goals -all in all you didn’t fare so badly -you had a big list.
I like your simple living goals.
I hope you are well – you haven’t blogged in a week. I am just ctaching up with my feed reader.
Trishs last blog post..Chat about the chow
[…] all know how disastrously I went in achieving my July goals. The question remains – did I do any better in […]